Fig Taylor - Visiting Lecturer

Toady I was in a lecture given by Fig Taylor, she was a graphic designer for 18 months until she was made redundant by her company. She then inherited a small amount of money and with it started her own agency for illustrators. Her company was open for 3 years but had to close due to and illness she had. She then joined the association of Illustrators where she managed fashion illustrators, children book illustrators etc. She also teaches professional practice at many universities. She told us that most students graduate without a professional portfolio but said that there is nothing wrong with that as only a handful of students she has seen have graduated with an 'industry ready' portfolio. Her top five tips for a good portfolio are-

1. Do your homework Make sure your work is relevant to the person that you are showing it to for example, if you are going for an interview at a gardening magazine, make sure your portfolio has pieces relevant to gardening.

2. Relevant Content

Show your personal style in your portfolio and how you would be useful to that client.

3. Running Order When presenting your work make sure you have a logical running order, know where you're going with it and make sure it doesn't take too long to get through.

4. Self Sufficient

Bring your own hardware for your presentation and bring a back up.

5. Don't be self indulgent

Don't fill your portfolio with personal or sentimental items, only professional material.

She also told us that employers want to see experimentation, examples of when you have overcome problems and that they are as interested in your failures as they are in your successful pieces as it shows what you have learnt.

This lecture was extremely helpful to me, Taylor made me feel more confident about my portfolio as I was worried about it not looking professional enough, however she reassured us that hardly any graduates have an industry ready portfolio straight out of University. I will definitely consider her steps when putting together my portfolio.